


I'm With You

by mistleto3



Series: Sarufem!mi [11]
Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 11:24:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6564310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistleto3/pseuds/mistleto3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Misaki is still afraid that Saruhiko will leave her again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm With You

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a drabble prompt on tumblr sent by anonymous from [this](http://mistleto-3.tumblr.com/post/141143377354/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you) list.
> 
> This piece is set about 6 years post-ROK, and in the intervening time Saruhiko's mental health has improved, and he and Misaki got married. 
> 
> This story can also be found on [Tumblr](http://mistleto-3.tumblr.com/post/142864226409/sarufemmi-with-hey-im-with-you-okay-always)

That face had engraved itself into Misaki’s memory. She knew it all too well; he always wore it in her nightmares. His lips were twisted into a pained smile, his teeth bared as he grinned masochistically. The expression contorted his whole face into a frightening caricature of the friend she’d once known. His azure eyes were hard and cold. Dead. Emotionless. Unrepentant. That smile didn’t touch those eyes. 

The top few buttons of his shirt were unfastened, and his burned insignia was visible beneath the white fabric. The scar disfigured the pale skin beneath it, distorting the scarlet tattoo until it was no longer recognisable as the mark of her pride. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had forgiven him for burning it, and the intervening years had allowed the wound to heal. So why was the inflamed skin flushed a dark, angry red? 

Saruhiko stood by the doorway of their apartment, that grim smile twisting his face. It had been almost ten years since the first time she had seen that expression, but it still turned her blood to ice in her veins. 

Saruhiko?” Her voice was quieter than she intended it to be. She almost sounded timid. 

“Honestly, Misaki, I didn’t know how long you expected me to stick around.” Acid dripped from his voice as he spoke her name. “Didn’t I say that the day you’d understand me would never come? You tried so hard.” His tone was patronising. “But you never managed it, did you? You’re still too dense, too much of an idiot. You just can’t wrap your head around the idea that you might never be good enough, so you didn’t just quit while you were ahead like you should have.” There was an almost mocking lilt to his voice as he spoke, the disfiguring smile colouring his voice with sharp, sarcastic spite. 

“Oi, what the hell are you trying to say?” Misaki gritted her teeth, barking the words. 

“I’m leaving you, Misaki.” 

The pain in her chest was far too real to have been caused by those four, tiny words. If he had stabbed her, slipped one of those knives of his between her ribs and twisted it, it would have hurt less. She wanted to double over and cough, vomit, scream, but she was frozen in place. Staring at that twisted mask of a face. He was still smiling. 

It took a moment before she could force words out of her throat; the news had winded her, and she had to fight to draw breath. 

“Why would you..?” Her voice was low, and darkly threatening. “What about the vows we made, huh?! Did you forget about those?!” She seized the wrist of his left arm and held up his hand. The thin band of tungsten encircling his ring finger caught the light faintly. “Did you forget what this means?” She snarled the words. 

A single, humourless chuckle hissed past his bared teeth. “Vows?” He snatched his wrist out of her grip, and lit the fingertips of his right hand with the red aura. The light from it cast jagged shadows across his contorted features. Misaki stumbled back, the familiarity of the scene twisting further at the sharp throbbing in her chest. Torturously slowly, he slid off his wedding ring, raking the nails of his burning hand along his finger, leaving the flesh raw and blistering. His smile barely flickered as he did so. “That’s what I say to your vows.” 

Misaki couldn’t speak. The air in her lungs had frozen solid, and she could do nothing but watch. 

“I don’t know what you expected.” He spat. “I made those vows years ago, when I had nobody else in the world but you who cared about me. So I clung on, like a little lost puppy. I made those vows so you wouldn’t abandon me, so I wouldn’t have nothing at all. You were the first person who ever cared about me, and I was a desperate little boy. But I don’t need you anymore. I can do better than a scrawny, moronic, dense little thug like you. It would be stupid of me to stay; I’m sick to the core of settling for you.”  
He pressed the ring into her hand, and the hot metal stung her skin. “Goodbye, Misaki.” Saruhiko turned his back on her, the door clicked shut, and he was gone. And she was alone. 

 

“Misaki?”

The room was dark, illuminated only by a slim beam of streetlight that edged in between the curtains and picked out the silhouette of her husband. 

“What’s wrong?” Saruhiko asked quietly, pulling her in close. Her frame shook against his, and it was only when his thumb wiped a tear from her cheek that she realised she was crying. “You had a nightmare?”

Misaki nodded weakly and pressed her forehead against his chest, allowing the warmth of his embrace to steady her trembling body. “You left me…” Her voice caught in her throat, and Saruhiko pressed his lips to the top of her head. 

“Misaki…” He cupped her chin and lifted it to look her in the eyes, and give her a brief, soft kiss. 

She sniffled, and her arms wound around his waist, clinging to him desperately. “Please don’t ever leave me.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. 

“Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always.” Saruhiko reassured. “I’m not going anywhere.” His fingers twined with hers, and she could feel the warm metal of his wedding band against her skin. “I love you.” 

Misaki buried her face in his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of his skin, and allowed herself to relax at the feeling of his warm, safe arms drawing her in tightly. “I love you too.”


End file.
